About nutrition Essay Example

this helps maintain liver and muscle glycogen stores throughout the day. Preparing for intense training sessions or competitions requires athletes to consume a carbohydrate-heavy meal roughly 3-4 hours beforehand so that high blood glucose levels can be sustained during these events. Consuming small amounts of carbohydrates through snacks like carbohydrate drinks or dried fruit is crucial when maintaining glycogen stores while undergoing high-intensity activities. Lastly but importantly drinking fluids such as water during competition is vital since it helps prevent dehydration.A balanced diet is fundamental for athletic performance by enabling athletes to train harder while recovering faster which reduces illness and injury risk thus encouraging efficient adaptation.Proper nutrition is crucial for optimizing the performance of football players during training and games. The consumption of food and drink before, during, and after matches can significantly impact physical and tactical abilities while also reducing fatigue. Individual player needs should be considered when creating a nutrition program as the energetic demands of soccer training vary based on seasonal competition levels and personal characteristics. On average, men require 6KJ or 1500Kcal per day while women need about 4KJ or 1000Kcal per day for gameplay or training purposes. Soccer players must include various foods in their diets to fuel activities with enough carbohydrates while meeting nutritional requirements to achieve changes in lean body mass, body fat content, or growth while maintaining energy balance. Consuming equal amounts of carbohydrates is vital to maintain optimal function since low energy availability can negatively impact hormonal, metabolic, immune function, and bone health. During moderate training periods, footballers may require 5-7g of carbohydrate for each kilogram of body mass but up to 10g per kilogram

for intense match play or rigorous training sessions.Performing high-fat and low-carbohydrate diets for one to three days can lead to a decrease in endurance capacity as muscle and liver glycogen stores become depleted. This depletion, combined with the lack of fat usage during exercise, can impact performance negatively. Consuming over 1.7g of carbohydrate per kg per day will not promote muscle building or repairing; however, ingesting small amounts of protein before, during, or after exercising may encourage net positive protein balance in trained muscles. The intensity of activity determines how much muscle glycogen is used since fuel availability from fat sources is limited. According to Sherman (1995), animal starch's dislocation regarding body weight ranges between 0.7 and 3.4 mmol per kilogram per minute when exercising at different Vo2 max levels; hence muscles use animal starch quickly during high-intensity exercises due to limited fuel availability from fat sources.Fatigue commonly occurs during exercise lasting over 90 minutes with intensities ranging from 65% to 85% of Vo2 max when animal starch stores are depleted.The amount of time a person can exercise before becoming fatigued is affected by their initial animal starch levels. If someone has higher stores, they will tire later than those with lower stores assuming other factors are the same. During prolonged exercises, it's necessary to consume exogenous sucrose to maintain glucose within a healthy range of 80-120mg/dL as the bloodstream finds it difficult to do so without it. Eating carbohydrates while exercising enhances performance and delays fatigue. Athletes involved in sports activities should consume protein equivalent to 15% of total calorie consumption or approximately 1.5g protein/Kg of body weight per day. However, athletes engaged in

intense training require protein between 1.2 and 1.8g per Kg of body mass. Football players need an adult RDA for protein at around 0.8 grams per kilogram every day which represents about 12% of their energy intake.Research shows that athletes who consume egg white proteins at a rate of 0.57 grams per kilogram daily and increase their energy intake by 15% experience an increase in nitrogen retention during exercise.For low-intensity exercise (35-50% VO2max), consuming the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram appears sufficient for achieving positive nitrogen balance during periods of thermal balance.Athletes' diets usually meet the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein already because they exceed it by two to four times on average.Consuming a lower amount of 0.57 or 0.80 grams per day combined with a calorie deficit can result in negative nitrogen balance, but this can be improved by consuming higher protein intake at 0.51 or 0.27 grams daily instead. As an example, if a male weighing 72 kilograms and requiring around 2900 kcal per day consumes an average of 0.8 grams/kilogram/day for protein intake, he would get approximately 348 kcal on average from proteins alone which is equivalent to twelve percent out of his total requirements. High strength endurance exercises may require a daily protein intake of about 1.2 to 1.4 grams per kilogram of body weight while athletes usually consume over the recommended amount of more than 1.5 grams per kilogram daily at around sixteen percent protein each day. Football players are suggested to have between twelve to fifteen percent protein intake while limiting fat consumption below thirty percent during competitive games where high work

rates and extended duration may cause increased body temperature and sweating responses aimed at promoting heat loss leading to reduced physical and mental performance that could negatively impact match outcomes thus losses need attention as they can significantly affect overall results although studies have measured sweat losses during competitive football games none reported on electrolyte lossesObservations of changes in body weight during exercise were used to determine sweating losses while taking into account fluid intake. The amount of variability observed during exercise is influenced by factors such as environmental temperature and humidity, acclimatization, fitness level of participants, and their individual performance levels. Group mean for sweat loss ranges from less than one liter to more than three liters due to these contributing factors. For exercises lasting less than an hour at 80-130 Vo2 max, athletes should drink between 500 to 1000 milliliters of water. For exercises lasting between one and three hours at 60-90% Vo2 max, the beverage should include 10 to 20 milliequivalent of Na+ and CI-, along with a carbohydrate content of 6% to 8%. Meeting these requirements involves consuming between 500 to 1000 ml/hour for carbohydrates and between 800 to1600 ml/hr for fluids. Minerals are crucial in nutrition as they serve two out of three fundamental functions: acting as building blocks for body tissues such as bones, teeth, and muscles; serving as constituents of enzymes known as metalloenzymes that regulate metabolism;and existing as ions or electrolytes that activate several hormones and enzymes (Speich et al.).The physiological functions of minerals are essential for athletes as they play a crucial role in various bodily processes, including muscle contraction, nerve impulse conductivity, immune system function,

bone health maintenance, oxidative phosphorylation facilitation, enzyme activation regulation, acid-base balance maintenance, and body water supply regulation. However, unlike other nutrients, minerals do not provide thermal energy. Insufficient mineral intake can lead to impaired physiological functions and various diseases such as anemia, high blood pressure diabetes mellitus cancer development and osteoporosis. It is crucial to consume adequate essential minerals for optimal physical performance and good health. Out of the elements on the periodic table only 25 are necessary for humans with saccharides fats proteins and water accounting for over 96% of our body weight. Iron deficiency is prevalent among individuals with low haemoglobin values which can affect endurance exercise performance. The recommended daily intake (RDA) for iron in adult males is 8mg/day while calcium's RDA is 1g/day; low calcium intake has been linked to an increased incidence rate of osteoporosis in society. Men typically consume an average daily sodium intake of 4.2g but the recommended AI for men aged 19-50 years old is just 1.5g per day.The dietary habits of Dominic Greer, a University of Bolton student and semi-professional football player who plays four times a week (three training sessions and one match) were examined in this study. Diet Program 6 was used to process his seven-day intake data during the recorded week where he played four games including two indoor sessions and two Sunday league matches before pre-season training began. The results showed that on average, only 47.1% of his total food consumption came from carbohydrates, which is below the recommended range of 55%-65% for football players (see Appendix 1). To avoid lower energy levels and faster fatigue caused by insufficient carbohydrate intake, it

is recommended to increase saccharide consumption while meeting daily calorie requirements (1388 calories). This will not only fulfill nutrition and energy needs but also increase calorie intake as necessary.

The subject's protein intake was high at 16.6%, exceeding the recommended range of 12%-15% for football players' diets. Lowering protein intake would allow for a slightly higher saccharide and calorie intake. Additionally, the subject consumed 36.3% of their daily fat, exceeding the threshold of 30% for football players' diets, with their fat and saccharide consumption being 6.3% over recommendations.

To balance this out, reducing fat intake by at least 6.3% while increasing saccharide consumption by 7.9% is advised.In order to meet the basic energy requirements of football players, it is necessary to decrease protein and fat intake while increasing carbohydrate consumption. One potential method for achieving a balanced diet involves switching to a low-fat brand of pasta sauce, increasing pasta servings per meal, reducing fat intake to 30%, and increasing weekly pasta consumption to match maximal carbohydrate needs (65%). By eliminating 5 grams of fat from their diet, they would need to consume 10 grams of carbohydrates in order to maintain calorie intake as fat contains twice as many calories as carbohydrates. Creating a balance between carbohydrates, fats, and proteins can be accomplished by decreasing daily milk consumption - which accounts for 8.6% of weekly consumption - reducing the amount of fat in certain foods, and increasing the percentage of carbohydrates through alterations in food brands, recipes, and ingredient combinations. While all three nutrients are below recommended amounts relative to calorie intake, finding equilibrium between them can lead to increased daily caloric intake that meets energy demands while

maintaining balance. The subjects exceed RDA iron requirements with a daily intake of 11.42mg but require double the suggested calcium intake due solely consuming pasteurized milk without full-fat or semi-skimmed options leading only lower calcium levels. However, using full-fat milk for increased calcium levels leads an increase in dietary fats.It is advised to consume high carbohydrate low-fat products to increase calorie and carbohydrate intake while maintaining a balanced diet. While the subjects currently drink 491.8mg of water per day, during exercise lasting between 1-3 hours it is recommended that they drink 500-1000ml of water per hour to maintain hydration levels. However, their daily exercises such as walking and participating in football for over an hour result in lower than recommended water consumption levels for maintaining hydration and high energy levels during physical activity. This is particularly concerning given their four times increased level of activity this week. The importance of proper hydration for athletes has been emphasized by several sources on sports nutrition including Manore, Thompson, Clark, Williams, Cedaro, Kirkendal, Maughan and Burke. Additionally, optimal nutrition is highlighted as a significant factor affecting athletic performance by the International Olympic Commission consensus on sports nutrition (Maughan et al., International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism Vol.7 Issue 6 p583;Clark J Sports Science 1994).